Tilting CEO Terminates Partouche Poker Tour

Patrick Partouche owns leading European casino business Groupe Partouche, which has 40 casinos and 19 hotels across Europe. However, the latest controversy over the €5 million prize pool proved too much for the 46 year-old to bear and in a tirade worthy of Mike Matusow himself, has decided to pull the plug on the Partouche Poker Tour (PPT) currently underway in Cannes, stating:
“The Partouche Poker Tour bears my name and my family’s name. After 40 years in this business, reading ‘Partouche is a liar, Partouche is a cheater,’ this I cannot accept, neither can my teams.. and I will tell you in terms of conclusion.. ‘When being spat on, you don’t have to say that it’s raining.”
At the end of last season, the Partouche website made the following announcement: “See you next year for season 5 of the Partouche Poker Tour, this time with a guaranteed prize pool of 5 million Euros!”
However, this year the €8,500 re-entry Main Event managed to create a prize pool worth €4,264,580, which was a full €735,420 short of its advertised target. In a spectacular example of back-pedaling , the Partouche Poker Tour then denied the €5 million was guaranteed and even set about removing material on its site which contradicted its claim. Nevertheless, the players reacted strongly to the about turn and openly criticized the organization leading to Patrick Partouche announcing this tournament would be the last edition of the Partouche Poker Tour.
Making his declaration directly to the players on Day 3 of the Main Event, Patrick Partouche had some special words reserved for a group of players he appears to hold chiefly responsible for the controversy and said:
“I’ve created this tournament by passion, I don’t have to be ashamed of it. Now if some young ego-driven players, craving for recognition, who aren’t even in final tables, allow themselves to say that we have cheated, that we have lied, I cannot accept it.”
In a fit of pique, Patrick Partouche then announced; “No one’s coming back next year anyway,” before turning and exiting the room. When earlier asked to explain the numerous references to the €5 million guaranteed prize pool, Partouche retorted:
“I know how to write, if you don’t know how to read it’s your problem, not mine.”